A fine gilt-bronze and bronze mantel clock depicting the Rape of Europa attributed to Jean-Joseph St. Germain, the dial and movement signed J. Le Roy à Paris Louis XV, mid 18th century

the white enamel dial with black Roman numerals contained within a drum shaped case surmounted by Europa attended by a cherub, on the back of a bull flanked by cherubs in drapery  suspending floral and foliate garlands, on a rockwork and pierced rocaille base; some elements later

Comparative Literature:
Pierre Kjellberg, La Pendule Francaise du Moyen Age au XXe siècle, Paris, 1997, p. 132, fig.B., for an identical model with the movement signed Etienne Le Noir à Paris, comparable in size (75cm) to the offered clock.
Hans Ottomeyer/Peter Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronze, Vol. I, Munich, 1986, p. 125, figs. 2.8.7., 2.8.8., 2.8.9.

This impressive clock is extremely rare due to its large size and belongs to a group of animal clocks which were manufactured in Paris around 1745-50. They are represented by animal figures as supports such as elephants, rhinoceros and wild boars by various celebrated Parisian bronziers such as Osmond, St. Germain and Jacques Caffieri.

The attribution of the case to Jean-Joseph St. Germain is based on a virtually identical clock, the case stamped St. Germain, with the cipher of Empress Catherine of Russia, and the movement by Viger, which was sold in these Rooms as lot 21, 11^th June 1993 (£78,500). As on this clock,  Zeus is depicted in the form of a bull standing on a rococo base decorated with flowers flanked by seated cherubs. On his back there is a clock surmounted  by Europa attended by a cherub. From the clock  there are garlands draped.   

This clock is a variation on the model with Europa and the Bull signed by Robert Osmond and St. Germain, see for example the model by Osmond in the Aschaffenburg Schloss, illustrated by Ottomeyer/Pröschel, op. cit., p.125, fig.2.8.7. Related models are in the Louvre and the Fitzwilliam Museum, illustrated by Ottomeyer/Pröschel, op. cit., p. 125, figs.2.8.8. and 2.8.9.

A related clock sold anonymously in these Rooms, 5th July 1973, lot 31 and is now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California (Accession number 73.DB.8.5).

A number of high quality clock cases are signed St. Germain, the largest and most elaborate being the one made in 1766-67 for the King of Denmark after models by Pajou, still preserved in the Danish Royal collection at the Amalienborg Palace. Similar to the present lot, but slightly less elaborate is the Bull clock by St. Germain, formerly at the Château de St. Cloud and the Tuileries, now in the Louvre, Catalogue No. 323. The subject matter of this clock depicts Europa who was the daughter of Agenor and was beloved by Zeus and the latter took the form of a white bull and when he encountered Europa at the seashore he coaxed her to climb on to his back and then swam off with her across the sea to Crete.

A very similar clock with the case by St.Germain and the movement signed J. Le Roy was sold in these Rooms, 25 June 1965, lot  77.

Jean-Joseph St. Germain (1719-91):
Jean-Joseph Saint Germain was the son of cabinet-maker Joseph de St. Germain. In 1749 he married Anne Legrand, widow of a cabinet maker named Jean-Paul Matthieu and their son, Jean de St. Germain also became a bronze worker. St. Germain is first recorded as an ouvrier libre in the Faubourg St. Antoine where he had a workshop in the rue de Charenton. Among his apprentices was Jean Gayer, who later became a cabinet and clock-case maker. On 15th July 1748, St. Germain was registered as a maître fondeur en terre et sable. In 1765, he was elected Juré of the Bronze Founders Guild for two years and in this capacity actively campaigned for the bronze founders copyright resolution which was finally ratified on 21st April 1766. In this same year St. Germain' s son was made Maître -while the father was Juré.

Julien Le Roy (1686-1759):
Le Roy was born in Tours in 1686 and was one of the most eminent French clockmakers of the 18th century  and was a member of a famous clock-making dynasty. He went to Paris in 1699 and was apprenticed to Le Bon. He became Maitre in 1713; Juré in 1731 and in 1739, clockmaker to the King at the Louvre. In 1717, he was made Directeur de la Société des Arts at Tours.